Damyanti Biswas is an author, blogger, animal-lover, spiritualist. Her work is represented by Ed Wilson from the Johnson & Alcock agency. When not pottering about with her plants or her aquariums, you can find her nose deep in a book, or baking up a storm.

Writing a Successful Short Story

Writing a short story can be as challenging as writing a novel, sometimes more. Like poetry, short stories are all about what you leave out as what you put in.

Having written a few short stories last year, here is what my mantras have become for my future work. I will keep them short, succinct, because that is the way of the short story.

1. The subject

When writing a short story, always figure out exactly what the story should say, and figure out a way of saying exactly that and nothing more.

2. Make use of every word

Every word you write should actually further the plot or the characterization. If a word does not do either, toss it out.

3. Have a small cast

The story should have a maximum of three people/ characters. More, and you are in for a novel, or at least a novella.

4. Choose the time span

A short story works best when the time span is short, because you can then focus on the details.

5. Set your story carefully

Your story can have maximum two to three settings, so choose them carefully, and evoke them in the fewest words possible.

6. The first and the last line

The first line of any composition is important, but it means life or death to a short story. If you hook the writer in the beginning, you have a shot at getting it right. Equally, your last line must have impact. Give the reader a sense of closure, or further anticipation, or even a shock.

7. The untold: creating tension

A little hidden menace, a subtle twist, a clever characterization are all part of what the short story conveys without spelling it out. This gives a certain tension to the story, and keeps the reader going.

8. Plotting the story

Plotting is more a step towards novels, but a short story usually has a plot as well. Check your story against these tips on structure if you feel a lack of pace and events in your story.